Former Kirklees College to be torn down to make way for Lidl

Proposal for the former Kirklees College site featuring a Lidl supermarket

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The 1970s Kirklees College buildings will be torn down to make way for German supermarket Lidl.

The discount retailer got its plan to build a new store on the Trinity Street side of the college’s former premises approved at a second attempt.

The £1m scheme will see 30 jobs created and looks set to be the catalyst for the redevelopment of the historic side of the mothballed campus.

In May the first attempt to pass the plan was snubbed amid concerns about the materials and lack of detail about what would happen to the old buildings.

But now councillors on the Strategic Planning Committee have agreed a modified plan for Lidl’s build to include more natural stone.

Details about the re-use of the listed buildings was also revealed.

Former Kirklees College buildings, hit by a recent arson attack

The developers have said they hope to create a care facility in the old Huddersfield Infirmary and build a new NHS medical centre.

A deal to construct retirement flats on the so-called Trinity Central site has been done.

Prior to giving the green light councillors were urged to approve it by Kirklees College’s chair of governors, Geoff Alvy.

Mr Alvy said the sale of the site would be a boost to the college’s financial stability and provide funding for their recently announced project to transform Pioneer House in Dewsbury into a “learning village”.

He said the site was “sadly becoming an eyesore with graffiti, vandalism and theft”, adding that the college “hadn’t exactly been inundated with offers from other developers”.